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SPEECH 



OF 



HON. S. CARUTHERS, OF MISSOURI. 









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THE NEBRASKA AND KANSAS BILL. 



DELIVERED 



IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, APRIL 7, 1854. 






WASHINGTON: 

PRINTED AT THE CONGRESSIONAL GLOBE OFFICE. 

• 1854. 



NEBRASKA AND KANSAS. 



The House being in the Committee of the 
Whole cfn the state of the Union — 

Mr. CARUTHERS said: 

Mr. Chairman: The importance of the bill to 
organize the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska, 
and the immediate interest of the State from which 
1 come in the settlement of the question involved 
in it, will plead my apology for occupying the 
time of the committee in its discussion. 

I do not propose to dwell upon the necessity of 
the organization of these Territories. I will con- 
tent myself by remarking, that the last House of 
Representatives, in obedience to the known will 
of the people, passed a bill for that purpose; that 
the border States, with unanimous voice, as evi- 
denced by the position of their Representatives, 
their numerous and large conventions, the voice 
of their press — through every avenue by which 
public sentiment can be declared — have demanded 
that the protection of our laws should be extended 
over that region. 

Their organization, as proposed by the bill now 
before us, is resisted mainly upon two grounds: 
The one, that it violates our treaty stipulations 
with the Indian tribes located there, and the other, 
that it violates our good faith, our party obliga- 
tions, and our honor, by declaring "inoperative 
and void" the eighth section of the act of 1820. 

With regard to the first objection, so often and 
so eloquently urged, I have only to say that the 
rights of the Indians are as well and as scrupu- 
lously guarded by the provisions of this bill as 
they could be by any possible legislation. It pro- 
vides their lands shall not be wrested from them, 
nor they included within the Territory proposed 
to be organized, without their consent. 

Sir, it is idle to talk of this feeble Indian barrier 
resisting the progress of the white man, with all 
his accompaniments of civilization ! The line of 
our march is westward, and every obstacle in our 
path must yield to that imperial tread ! 

The civilized world has always had its West. To 
go no further back — in the times of the first Caesar 
it was Gaul and Britain; in the days of the Pil- 
grim fathers it was the shores of the Atlantic; 



later it was the summit of the Alleghanies; yet 
later and it was the eastern bank of the "father 
of floods;" again, and it was the western bank of 
our great river; now it is the Territories of Kan- 
sas and Nebraska. And is it not folly to think of 
resisting this proud and glorious march ; this march 
that has carried with it, at every step of its pro- 
gress, the power of empire; that has bridged the 
Atlantic; that has trod down the Alleghanies; that 
has subdued a wild world of wilderness; passed 
over the Mississippi — by the obstacle of a few 
thousand Indians upon the borders of Iowa and 
Missouri! I grant you it is sad to think of their 
fast coming fate. It is sad to think, while the 
tide of civilization is rolling back from the Pacific 
and on from the Atlantic, that the Indian tribes 
must be buried forever beneath the meeting waters, 
and go down into the black and starless night of 
annihilation. But it is their fate; fixed for all wise 
purposes by Him who holds in his hands the des- 
tiny of races; and to that decree I bow. 

I come now to the consideration of the real ques- 
tion involved in this bill. I come to it solemnly, 
deeply impressed with its present importance and 
momentous future consequences. I approach it 
divested, as far as may be, of all passion, of all 
partisan or sectional feeling, desiring to meet calmly 
and fairly the high questions of good faith", of honor, 
of obligations involved. I will not pause long to 
dwell upon its party effect; for, in my judgment, 
the questions involved override all party consider- 
ations. It is true, this bill is presented to us as 
an Administration measure. It is true that I am 
here as a Whig. But I am not here to give this 
Administration a factious opposition. I am not 
here to oppose any measure brought forward by 
it, merely because it is brought forward by it. I 
am here uncommitted to a blind opposition or ia 
blind support, to follow to the end the dictates of 
my own judgment and conscience, and the will of 
those who sent me. 

In this instance I believe the Administration has 
taken high national ground; that it has planted 
itself upon a great American principle — the prin- 
ciple of self-government; a principle involved in 



none of our party issues; a principle dearer than 
any party considerations ; a principle upon which 
all sound, national men of all parties, may meet 
and stand, as upon ground alike cherished and 
alike dear. It was this principle ingrafted in the 
compromises of 1850 that commended them bo 
warmly to the American heart; it was this princi- 
ple which was ratified by both parties in their 
conventions at Baltimore, and it is for this princi- 
ple I speak to-day. 

Sir, this is no war between the Administration 
and its opponents — no war between Whigs and 
Democrats, as such; but, disguise it as you may, 
it it a trcr between Free-SoiMam on the one hand, and 
tht right > f th< people to self-government on the other, 
1 do not desire to be understood as charging all 
the opponents of this bill with Free-Soilism; for ' 
1 know the opposition contains men who have 
taken their positions, from the highest promptings 
of honor and the purest impulses of patriotism;' 
but it occurs to me these men will find themselves 
fighting under strange banners and strange leaders. 
To those Whigs who are endeavoring to embar- 
rass the Administration by thwarting this measure, ! 
and to build up a party strength by allying them- ' 
selves with northern prejudices, I trust I may be 
pardoned for addressing a few words of " sober- 
ness and truth." It is a fact, attested by all our 
past history, all our present experience, that no ! 
mere sectional party, no one-idea party, can com- 
mand success. To succeed, a party must plant 
itself upon grounds as broad as our Union. 
The history of the Whig party for the last few 
years, glanced at by the distinguished gentleman 
from North Carolina, [Mr. Clivgmax,] furnishes 
us with a useful lesson, and one by which we 
might well profit. In the midst of the fearful 
agitation of 1^50 the South demanded, as a matter 
of justice to her interests, and of obedience to the 
plain requirements of the Constitution, the pas- 
sage of an efficient fugitive slave law. But three 
Whig members from the free States were found 

g for that bill. When the Whig party met 
in convention at Baltimore — when it came to act 
up .in the claims of that noble National Whig, Mil- 
lard Fillmore, — he who had stood so calmly and 
skillfully at the helm during the wild ragin'ga of 
the storm that had swept over the land — he whose 
deep devotion to the Union had been proved in 
those "dark hours" — he who administered t lie 
a/Turn of this Government with a wisdom, a puri- 
ty, a moderation, a firmness, only excelled by the 
eat first President — he who had imbedded 

•-If so.deeply in the love and confidence of the 
good men of all parlies in all the Union — Zie.upon 
the principle of availability, was sacrificed upon 
this Hame altur of northern prejudice, — did the 
sacrifice — allow me to say, the unworthy sacri- 
fice — propitiate their favor? Did it even gain 
theii ] , sir. Though we presented them 

with a name known and honored throughout the 

' - a in ui whosedeeds were thedeeds which 

eta, and glow with immortality on 

the page* of historians — a man who left us in 

• whether most to admire the magnificenj 
splendor of bin achievements, or the milder, yet 
lovelier, loiter of his private life: under thia leader, 
all distinguished as h<- we •, we went into the con- 
flict; bat the moral power of tin- party was brok< ii 

by t which 1 have alluded, and the 

action at Baltimore; and we susluined one of the 



most overwhelming defeats that ever overtook an 
erring party — a defeat which was well nigh an 
annihilation. Is there no lesson of wisdom in these 
facts ? Unless I greatly misread all the signs of 
the times, our Democratic friends are being taught 
something of this same lesson. General Pierce 
came into power almost by acclamation — the fires 
of party were well nigh extinguished; even oppo- 
nents were disposed to approve. Did he not, in 
the outset of his Administration, in the selection 
of his constitutional advisers, instead of calling 
around him the sound national men of his party, 
to conciliate factions, and sections, and prejudices, 
call around him a heterogeneous association of 
extremes, which have given us a series of blun- 
ders and inconsistencies which have weakened the 
nation's faith, the nation's confidence, and the 
nation's love? 

This review, to my mind at least, establishes 
the great and encouraging fact with which I set out, 
that no party can gain strength by pandering to sec- 
tional prejudices, whether North or South; that no 
party can stand in this country, except upon a 
broad national basis! But I desire to come more 
immediately to the questions involved in the bill 
before us. 

It is asserted, if we pass this bill, its operations 

1 will be against the South. To this argument 1 
have only to reply that the doctrine of congressional 

' non-intervention, and of the right of the people to 
determine for themselves the character of their 

i domestic institutions, is just within itself — a sound 

! national policy. If, then, the recognition of these 
doctrines should bear hard upon any particular 
section — the South — that section should, in all 

'< honor and patriotism, submit to its operations, 
and will so submit. But is it true ? If so, how 
does it happen that the old recognized avowed 
enemies to our institution oppose this bill? How 
does it happen that every political Abolitionst, 
here and elsewhere, opposes this bill ? How does 
it happen that every Free-Soiler in the land op- 
poses this bill? How does it happen that every 
man of Free-Soil proclivities opposes this bill ? 
How does it happen that the *' strong-minded 
women," who have unsexed themselves and de- 
scended from the lofty and lovely sphere of their 

i appropriate positions, to mingle with free negroes 
in Abolition conclaves, denounce this bill ? How 
does it happen that Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, 
who worked out of the foulest prejudices an in- 
famous notoriety, and then went to our old enemies 
to receive the reward of her treacherous slanders, 

1 is endeavoring to bring to bear an organized op- 

Eosition of her countrywomen against the bill? 
low does it happen that those reverend fanatics 
and hypocritea, who have descended from their 
| high places as ministers of God, desecrate His 
1 sacred altars in their insane fury against the bill? 
Sir, the pretext is too shallow to frighten any 
southern man from his propriety. 

Again it is argued that the Missouri compro- 
mise line is a *' wall of protection" to the South. 
A wall of protection to the South! 

Why is it that the classes to which I have al- 
luded are standing the sentinels to guard this 
wall ? Where was its protection when it cut off 
from the South all that portion of the Louisiana 
purchase lying north of 3C>° 30' (except Missouri) 
upon which slavery had already been impressed ? 
Where was its protection when it cut ofl* from the 



South all that portion of Texas lying north of the 
same line upon which slavery had also been im- 
pressed? Where was its protection "when Mis- 
souri knocked at the door of Congress for admis- 
sion with a republican form of government in her 
hands," and was driven back upon a pretext 
alike dishonoring to her and to those who made 
it ? As a southern man, I desire the demolition of 
stick a wall of protection ! 

Again, it is said that the Missouri compromise 
was a compact, and that the South is bound, by 
every consideration of honor and good faith, to j 
stand by her bargain. I will not travel over the 
ground so eloquently occupied by the distin- 
guished gentleman from Georgia, [Mr. Stephens,] 
and again by the not less distinguished gentle- 1 
man from Kentucky, [Mr. Breckinridge.] I will 
content myself by submitting it to the candor 
of this committee, if it has not been established 
beyond all question, that it was violated by the 
North in less than twelve months after its passage, 
by the refusal upon their part _to admit Missouri, 
in obedience to its express stipulations, without 
another — an independent and different condition. 
By, if possible, the more conclusive fact, that when 
Missouri had complied with the other condition, 
upon the Jinal vote to admit her into the Union — 
the vote by which she was admitted — the major- 
ity of the Representatives from the North voted 
against her admission. Was this not an open, sol- 
emn, ay, official violation of the contract about 
which we have heard so much ? The South for- 
gave this breach of faith, and still stood firmly 
by it. 

In 1845 the North came back to its bargain— the 
South held firm, and the Missouri compromise 
line, by name, was extended through the State of 
Texas. Look you ! Texas was a slave State — 
the North was to gain by the extension, and then 
we - heard nothing of this technical quibble, that 
the compromise only applied to the Territory of 
Louisiana. Oh, no ! then it was a great principle; 
then in its spirit it extended as far as the subject 
upon which it could operate extended ! The Mex- 
ican territory was acquired, free territory — then 
presto, change! we hear no more from them of 
extension — no more of the inviolability of the Mis- 
souri compact ! But its spirit was ruthlessly trod- 
den down against the repeated, the earnest, the 
urgent remonstrances of the South ! And yet, in 
the face of these facts, we are to be charged with a 
violation of our honor for not adheringto the bond ! 
Do you expect the men of the South are mere child- 
ren — that they will permit you to play " fast and 
loose " with this line— observe it when it is your 
interest, and discard it when it works against you ? 
No, sirs; in 1848 you were given to understand 
that your refusal to extend it would absolve the 
South from her obligations. 

President Polk, in his Oregon message, in an 
official communication to the Congress of the Uni- 
ted States, distinctly declared, if this refusal was per- 
sisted in, it would leave the Missouri compromise 
«' an open question." The Legislature of my own 
State, that had time after time resolved in favor of 
the line, declared the contract broken, but, with 
the whole South, was willing still to adhere to it, 
if the North would extend it to the Pacific, as a 
matter of peace. Add to all this the settlement 
of these slavery questions, as connected with the 
organization of our Territories by the compro- 



mise measures of 1850, the discarding of latitu- 
dinal lines by that settlement, the recognition of 
the right of the people to determine for themselves 
the character of their domestic institutions; and I 
leave it to the candid judgment of candid men of 
all parties, if the South has not been absolved by 
these repeated and flagrant violations on the part 
of the North, by the establishment of a different 
principle in the legislation of the country, from 
whatever of obligation rested upon her to obsei"" 
the compact of 1820 ? _ 

It is said the Missouri compromise line has st( 
for thirty-four years on our statute-book — agn 
pacificator, a glorious peace measure! Travel b 
over the record of that thirty-four years, and pi 
me, if you please, to the peace it has given ! Sir, the 
Missouri compromise was a child of storm ; was 
cradled in a tempest, and has been true to its orif 
From the day of its passage to 1850, abolitionism 
had, from year to year, gathered a stronger h< 
the fires of sectional strife had, from year to year, 
burned more fiercely. It is true they were smo 
ered for a time, but it was only to burst forth again 
with a wilder fury, which, in 1848, threatened to 
destroy the Union itself in its dread conflagniti 
Mr. Chairman, it has given us no peace. Broken, 
dishonored, discarded, superseded, why should it not 
be swept from our statute-book ? No man c* 
regret more the agitation that is around us than I; 
no man could regret more the necessity for a dis- 
cussion of these delicate questions of slavery. In 
this regard I totally differ from the honorable gen- 
tleman from New York, [Mr. Gerrit Smith.] I 
j had hoped when the compromise measures passed ; 
when both parties, in their conventions at Balti- 
more, indorsed them as a final settlement, " in 
principle," of the questions involved in them, that 
those questions would sleep their last sleep — a si eep 
which would know no waking. 1 know the coun- 
try, when aroused and alarmed again by this " fire- 
bell," will hold the agitators to a fearful responsi- 
bility. And I retort back upon the gentleman from 
Illinois [Mr. Washburne] the question so boldly 
asked — as to " who are the agitators?" Is it the 
friends of this bill, or is it those whose political life 
depends upon agitation ? We but stand square 
upon the platforms — we adhere to those measures 
as a finality; we recognize the principle upon which 
they were based , as the men of 1845 recognized the 
latitudinal principle established in 1820, and ex- 
tended it through Texas, so the men of 1854 should 
recognize the popular sovereignty principle as es- 
tablished in 1850, and extend it to the Territory of 
Kansas' and Nebraska. As the South submitted 
unmurmuringly then, the North should submit 
unmurmuringly now. If those who opposed the 
extension were agitators then, those who oppose 
the extension are agitators now; as we stood by 
our honor then, you should stand by your honor 
now. It is, for the most part, the men who op- 
posed the compromise measures — the men who de- 
rided and spit upon your platforms — the men who 
denounced finalities and the principle established, 
who are now making their inflammatory appeals 
to prejudices, and endeavoring to stir the public 
mind up into an excitement. 

I have no desire. to indulge in criminations. I 
desired only to fix the responsibility where it 
belongs. The question — the excitement is upon 
us, and we are called upon to meet them— to vote. 

From the organization of our Government, these 



6 



Juestions i e«U the most del; 

ie most agitating, the most dangerous of any 
ren disturbed. We have 

built up a Strength lhal can defy the world, if all 
!— we have attained a ; 

perity unequaled, and now, far as the eye 
•itute the only cloud to be 
in; that cloud has rested upon U 
aimencement, threatening and porlenl- 
fathen endeavored to avoid the BtOrO) 
by the ordinal! • and by tlie Missouri 

eompromiae — by the division of arbitrary lines; 
till, through the long lapse of years, that cloud 
I i!y and fearfully 
the impending storm cannot be 
averted by this principle is established, beyond 
all question, by the unerring demonstrations of 
iictu. With all the lights of the past 

— with all the admonitions of danger around and 
about them, the great men of 1850 came up to the 
great work of readjustment. They struck out in 
a new path — they searched deep down amidst the 
foundations of fundamental truths upon which our 
Gov: ta, for a great principle upon which 

to base that adjustment; they found in the very ^ 
corner-stone — embodied in the Declaration of In- 
deper trong and vigorous principle — the 

principle a to that sacred chart all its 

deur! — that hascanonized it in the 
American heart — in the world's heart! — the prin- 
ciple contained in the grand and solemn declara- 1 
"G nts claim their just powers] 

FROM THE CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED." This 

principle was strong enough to bear through in 
triumph three millions, imbued with its majesty 
and might, in their fearful struggle with the great- 
est Power of the world ! Appealing to its justice 
and strength, the Congress of 185U rested these 
questions of slavery upon it. The people, with 
almost one voice, ratified the noble act. In the 
organization of the Territories of Kansas and Ne- 
:a we are called upon to determine the great 
question, whether we will place the final seal of 
our approbation upon their work — whether we 
eave these rpiestions of slavery in the Terri- 
where they placed them, or whether we will 
again go out amidst the storms and breakers on , 

II] which we have been tossed! 

I vious that we can have no lasting 

peace until • • <~t is driven out from the Halls 

Wlnle it is here, aspirants will agi- 
tata . try, in State Legislatures; while it 
in here, the fire brands will be scattered anew, at, 
v session of Congress, among the people. 
nd their occupation is gone. Send it to 
the;' ire to be affected by it. They can 
settle it for themselves better than we can settle it 
for them. They need no guardians; least of all, 
I IiL'hly as I respect the 
i Men I have the honor of being a mem- 
ber, torn, ih\ 11! . with its con£ 

i iliarly unfit 

for the high dul >ip. 

I h a continue this anomaly in our 
Q ivernment without representation? 
v. that the man of the Territories are not 

as capable of regulating their domestic affairs 

V. . is it that a man Stand- 
n • upon the western borai T V , dud 

I an integral 

part of the sovereignty of the luud — with a 



to be heard, and a vote to be felt, in the formation 
of the laws which are to govern him? He treads 
his foot one etep beyond, upon the soil of Kan- 
ad he sinks (by your doctrine) from the high 
dignity of a man, and a free man, into the help- 
less imbecility of minority — his attributes of sov- 
ereignty fall from around him — congressional 
restrictions are placed upon him, and you take him 
into your leading-strings. 

Who are these men ? Who are the men whose 
capacity for self-government is vindicated and as- 
serted by this bill ? They are those bold spirits, 
thrown by the dashings of the first waves of em- 
igration upon the bosom of the wilderness of the 
West! — men whose hearts are as strong as their 
arms — men who walk forth in a pride and power 
of manhood unattained by those confined in the 
hot-beds of your cities, or breathing the impuri- 
ties of a too pent-up population — men who, with- 
out invidious discrimination, I may be permitted 
to say, have inherited more largely tiiat noble 
daring of our fathers, which periled all in defense 
of this great principle, and lined your Atlantic sea- 
board with sister Republics based upon it, which 
stand and have stood for more than three fourths 
of a century the wonder and the glory of the na- 
tions! I appeal to the North to give to these.men 
of the Territories their just rights; I appeal to the 
North to give to the South her just rights; I ap- 
peal to them to forbear, in the power of their num- 
bers, striking us down from our just equality in 
the Union by a dishonoring blow; I appeal to 
her true men to stand by us in this conflict. 

Mr. Chairman, this is no idle struggle. In my 
judgment a question more momentous in its con- 
sequences neveroccupied theattention of this body. 
I regard this as the last, final struggle between the 
sections of the Union — a struggle in which there 
will be no compromise, and in which there should 
be no compromise. The principles contained in 
this bill are just and correct within themselves, 
just to all sections of the Union. If these questions 
of slavery cannot rest here, they can rest nowhere, 
and the country should know it. We want no 
more temporary and shifting expedients — no more 
hollow truces — no more unjust discriminations. 
We want an honorable peace — a lasting peace. 
Pass this bill — ingraft its principles in the public 
heart, and in the legislation of the country, and 
you will roll back the cloud of which I have spoken 
from our horizon, and blot out forever Mason and 
Dixon's line as a line of sectional division. Pass 
this bill, and you draw the bonds of Union still 
more firmly and closely around the Republic. Pass 
this bill, and you may go home and tell your con- 
stituents you have accomplished a glorious work; 
that you have removed the only obstacle in the 
path of our onward march; that you have guided 
the gallant old ship into a secure haven, where the 
IS and tempests will beat against her no more. 
Defeat this bill, and you throw the subject out, 
i, into the hands of the agitators; you mingle 
ii up in our elections; you unchain the winds, and 
bid the demon of discord run riot over the land. 

In this contest the South stands as she has al- 
ways stood, in the defensive. She asks you only 
to let her alone — to let her institution alone. We 
war not; we have not warred with you; we have 
entered upon no career of slavery propagandism; 
we desnc no laws to force our domestic institu- 
tions upon you. Did the South propose that 



Kansas and Nebraska should never be admitted 
as States, without a clause in their Constitution 
establishing slavery, then the North might fly 
with fiery zeal to arms; then she might denounce 
the encroachments of the slave power; then she 
might, with justice and in honor, agitate this ques- 
tion; then she might marshal her hosts, and come 
down here in battle array to vindicate her equality 
and resist the base aggression ! We make no 
such propositions. We only ask you again to let 
us alone — let our slaves alone. 

The same Providence which saw the exodus of 
the African from his native shore, saw that of the 
Israelite from his bondage. This Providence will, 
in its own good time, erect for him his pillar of 
cloud and of fire; wi^J roll back for him his waters 
of the Red Sea; will conduct him over his Jordan, 
and give to him his promised land. It is blas- 
phemous in you to attempt to disturb this march 
of destiny. We of the slave States are God's 
'instruments — not you — to work out for the Afri- 
can His great purposes. It is through us that the 
beautiful doctrines of our holy religion are break- 
ing in upon his darkened mind and being ingrafted 
upon his heart. It is by us that civilization, in 
its progress, is being conducted to him; it is by his 
association with us that the gloomy nightshade 
of superstition is being dispelled from around him. 
In short, it is our hands that have led him from 
his wild, and barbarous, and heathen, and miser- 
able existence upon the sands of his native desert, 
to a knowledge of his God, to an advance in civ- 
ilization far beyond any point attained by those 
left behind him, and it is our hands which must 
conduct him to his future. Let us alone ! Talk 
not to us of the "demoralizing effects of slavery," 
its "blighting curse." Were you ever in our 
beautiful and sunny South? Are not our women 
as fair and our men as brave as yours? Are the 
records of crime more teeming and dark with us 
than with you? Are mobs, insanity, pauperism, 
starvation, more frequent with us than with you? 
But I will not allow myself to be drawn into sec- 
tional contrasts. I enter into no crusade against 
the North; I cherish no sectional prejudices. Sir, 
I honor the North. I believe the great body of 
her people are as true to the Union, as devoted in 
their patriotism, as those of any other section of 
our Confederacy. I honor her long roll of great 
names; the industry that has wrung from a reluc- 
tant and sterile soil millions of wealth; the enter- 
prise which has spread our commerce upon every 
sea, and borne it to every port in the world. 1 
honor the gallantry of her seamen who, in the 
war of 1812, arrested the proud march of Eng- 
land "upon the mountain wave," and broke up 
her home upon the deep; her free schools; the 



energy which has everywhere dotted her surface 
with manufactories. I admire the taste that has 
adorned her with magnificent edifices; and I re- 
vere the spirit that has erected the tall spires of 
her myriad churches, pointing heavenward. 

But, while I thus honor and thus love the North, 
I also love the South, the abused, the calumniated 
South. I loved her in my childhood, I adore her 
in my manhood, and I will love her at my death. 
She, too, has her bright roll of great names, her 
proud and lofty spirit, her daring chivalry, her 
open generosity, her fervid patriotism . I call upon 
the North to remember (in the language of their 
greatest orator) that "she went hand in hand with 
you through the dark night of our Revolution;" 
that her shouts of gladness and triumph mingled 
with yours at its glorious consummation. -That 
in 1812, when it was your seamen who had been 
impressed, and your commerce that had been plun- 
dered, true to you, true to her own noble im- 
pulses, she paused not to inquire whether she had 
been stricken, but she saw her northern brother 
wronged and dishonored, and she plunged, with 
all her great soul, into the fight. She has been 
true to the Union, notwithstanding the chief bur- 
dens of Government, through the operation of 
revenue laws, have fallen upon her. She has been 
true to the Union, notwithstanding the unjust re- 
strictions under which you have bound her. She 
has clung to it with unwavering hand, while you 
poured your fiery torrent of insult and obloquy 
and defamation upon her. Why should not this 
North and this South dwell together in unity? 
Why should they not meet in fraternal embrace 
upon the altars of the Constitution; and as the 
blood of their heroes has mingled together upon 
the battle plain, in war and in death, let the love 
of their survivors mingle together in peace and in 
life? United we achieved our independence; united 
in 1812, we safely guarded the boon; united 
on the plains of Mexico, we threw a halo of im- 
perishable glory on the altar of our arms. United 
we have garnered together a treasure house of 
memories more rich than any of which the world's 
history tells. United we have left an enduring 
monument of glory at every step of our progress. 
Continue this Union, and we will achieve a point 
of national eminence and greatness beyond even 
the boldest imaginings of the most sanguine men 
of our time. 

Sir, this Union will continue. Politicians and 
agitators, North and South, may ripple the sur- 
face — may cause the wave and the billow to roll, 
but beneath there sleeps a calm, quiet, deep ocean 
of love for the Union and devotion to the Consti- 
tution. Upon that love and that devotion I build 
my hopes, and I will not yield my faith. 



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WOT 

BOOKBINDING 

Gran?* ite Pa 
Jan Feb 1989 












